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Wednesday 171129

Wednesday 171129

Boise CrossFit – CrossFit

Pro tip:
Rowing for Calories – How To Do It
Written by Shane Farmer

One of the most popular questions about rowing for the sake of CrossFit is how to row for calories. Calories show up frequently i workouts as a unit of measurement and seems to be one of the more challenging parts of rowing to understand. Check out our article about the frequency of rowing in CrossFit programming history to see how much it shows up. It isn’t an overly complicated explanation, but one that warrants a read. We’ll lay it out for you here, so you don’t have to worry about it again.
Being Efficient is Being Efficient
The first question to answer is whether or not we row differently for calories versus other units. And the answer is no.
The most important part of rowing is that you are efficient and that you are able to connect to the machine. Speed comes from your ability to connect to the machine and not from any gimmick or change in technique. What you should strive for is to optimize your connection to the machine which will allow you to apply as much force, acceleration, and distance as possible.
Mechanics DO NOT CHANGE
So when we are rowing for calories our goal is not to row any differently than usual but to prioritize connection through good mechanics which you learn with skill and drill work. When you use good mechanics and technique you can’t help but move faster. But if you introduce movement patterns that aren’t based on sound principles you will only confuse yourself in the effort to move faster.
What is the Monitor Asking For?
When the monitor is measuring for calories what it is actually measuring is calories per hour which correlates to power output which is measured in Watts.
Watts and calories per hour are related in a linear fashion meaning they move together. So when you row for calories you are rowing for power output. If you wanted to move twice as fast as you were currently rowing, it would require eight times as much energy when rowing for watts or cal